Newcastle coach Nathan Brown has all but conceded the Kalyn Ponga experiment at five-eighth is over following his side's 17-10 loss to the Raiders at GIO Stadium.
With regular custodian Connor Watson missing through injury, Brown resisted the temptation to move his superstar to his preferred custodian role, instead opting for Kurt Mann to play just his fifth NRL game at fullback.
The gamble didn't pay off, with neither player offering much in attack.
With his side down by 12 points after an hour, Brown bit the bullet and swapped the pair, with the Knights immediately looking more dangerous in attack.
Newcastle have managed just 38 points through the opening three rounds but their fortunes would change if Ponga returned to fullback for Sunday week's clash against the Dragons.
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"Our offence isn't going as smoothly as we'd like, and we've got a long turnaround this week so we've got to have a look at why aren't we quite getting the best out of what we're working with," Brown said.
"I wouldn't sit here and say we're definitely going one way or the other.
"I'll certainly have a conversation with Kalyn - that's a definite - but I'm certainly not one of these coaches who's stubborn enough to not put my hand up and say 'maybe it's not a good idea'."
Brown revealed he and Ponga had spoken with halfback Mitchell Pearce about pulling the trigger this week, but the trio decided it wasn't the right time to end the experiment.
"We did have the conversation this week," he said.
"I sat down with 'Junior' and 'KP' and had a chat and asked 'is this the time that we've got to make the change because of Connor's injury' but everyone was keen to keep pushing with it.
"But there comes a time when the coach has to make the decision, so we'll sit down and have a chat to see where it goes."
Ponga immediately injected himself into the game when the positional switch was made, and it now appears a foregone conclusion that his time in the halves is over for now.
